1. Using Clickers to
Teach Critical Thinking
Randy J. Malta, Senior Instructional Designer,
Center for Teaching & Learning
St. Louis Community College -
Forest Park

2. St. Louis Community
College
• Founded in 1963
• 29,000+ Credit students Spring 2011
• 4 campuses strategically located throughout the St. Louis, Missouri
Metropolitan area.
– In the very north Florissant Valley location,
– to the city's central corridor at Forest Park,
– to the southwest area of the county at the Meramec campus,
– to the burgeoning West County area our Wildwood campus -Opened
August 2007
• 2 Education Centers and Corporate College Center

3. 449 Full Time Faculty + 1,480 Adjunct Faculty
district- wide

4. Session Description
• This interactive presentation demonstrates the use of
classroom response systems courses to enhance and
stimulate critical thinking.
• Explore and learn if clickers can be used in your class.

5. Clickers – Audience Response
Systems

6. What is in a name?
Audience Response Systems (ARS)
Personal Response Systems (PRS)
Student Response Systems (SRS)
Clickers

7. Clickers
• Provide a tool to engage students and assess
knowledge.
• Instructors are able to ask objective and subjective
questions. Questions may come from the instructor or
as part of a publisher’s textbook package.
• Questions are displayed for each student to view and
respond to with a remote control device.
• A receiver picks up the student’s response and sends it
to software loaded on a computer, providing instant
feedback to instructor and student.

8. Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and
skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation,
experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief
and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual
values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision,
consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth,
and fairness.
A Definition
Critical thinking is that mode of thinking - about any subject, content, or
problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking
by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and
imposing intellectual standards upon them.
- National Council on Critical Thinking

9. Basic Uses
• Review of content during class
• Access level of understanding
• Review for test
• Review after test to clear up points
• Decrease fear of responses – anonymous
• Active learning
• Engage students

10. Clicker Advantages
• Engaging multiple learning styles
• Aural
• Visual
• Logical
• Physical
• Verbal
• Social

11. Clicker Advantages
• Engaging multiple • Analyzing and
learning styles synthesizing
• Increasing visual complexities
impact • Increasing
• Improving audience spontaneity and
focus interactivity
• Providing • Increasing wonder
annotations and
highlights

12. •
•
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Engaging Students with Clickers
Resource
•
•
Generating Classwide Discussions
Generating Small-Group Discussions Derek Bruff,
• Creating Times for Telling
•
•
Structuring Class Time
Making Class More Fun
Acting
• Chapter 2 – Assessing Students with Clickers
• Uncovering Student Learning Director,
• Evaluating Student Learning
• Chapter 3 – A Taxonomy of Clicker Questions
Content Questions Vanderbilt
• Process Questions
•
•
Chapter 4 – Teaching Choices
Use of Class Time Center for
• Writing Questions
•
•
Student Response, Participation, and Grading
Classroom Choices Teaching
• Small Classes
• Chapter 5 – Technical and Logistical Choices
• Technical Challenges
• Vendor Selection and Adoption
• Supporting and Promoting the Use of Clickers
• Low-Tech Options
• High-Tech Options
• Chapter 6 – Why Use Clickers?
• Increased Student Participation
• Increased Student Engagement
• Frequent Feedback on Student Learning
• Final Suggestions

13. Teaching with Classroom Response
Systems: Creating Active Learning
Environments Jossey-Bass, 2009
• “If an instructor uses clickers only to take attendance of
give quizzes students often object to paying for a
device just to make the instructors job easier. If,
however an instructor uses the results of a clicker quiz
to review the quiz with the students immediately after
they take it, focusing on questions most missed by
students and exploring popular incorrect answers,
students see this as adding value to their learning
experience and are more likely to see the clickers as
useful.
• Derek Bruff, Acting Director of Vanderbilt University’s Center
for Teaching from Inside Higher Ed

14. Best Practice - Start small
• Asking simple, information gathering or
factual questions to begin

15. Currently Using Clickers?
1.Yes
2.No

16. You are
1. Administration
2. Faculty 0%
3. Instructional
Designer
4. Support Staff
Administra... Faculty Instructio... Support St...

17. I am from
1. Southeast
2. Northeast
3. Midwest
4. South
14% 14%
5. Southwest
14% 14%
6. Northwest
7. West 14%
14%
14%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

18. Best Practice - Anonymous
• Build trust first

19. My age is
1. 21-25
2. 25-30
3. 30-40
4. 40-50
5. 50-60
6. 60-70
7. 70+
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
5
0
0
0
0
0
+
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
70
21
25
30
40
50
60

20. Desire to have more classroom
interaction/engagement while still
achieving the Learning Outcomes
1. Yes
0%
2. No
0%
3. Maybe
0%

21. Best Practice - # of Questions
• Most Instructors use
–Four to six discussion questions per
class.

22. Question Asked First

23. Small Group Discussion First

24. Depending on Answer use both.

25. Click It and Learn It

26. New Blooms Taxonomy
• Remember -can the student recall or remember the
information?
• Understand-can the student explain ideas or concepts?
• Apply-can the student use the information in a new
way?
• Analyze-can the student distinguish between the
different parts?
• Evaluate-can the student justify a stand or decision?
• Create-can the student create new product or point of
view?

27. Survey

28. Background Information
• Survey issued at the end of F10 semester to
39 nursing students. 44 were currently
enrolled, 5 were absent on day of survey
• Survey questions adopted from
http://conferences.anzmac.org/ANZMAC2007/papers/D%20Lincoln_1a.pdf and other .edu sites,
Revised and adapted for my particular class

39. Student Narratives
Most Helpful
• “Being able to answer the question independently without
people answering out loud”
• “It gave an opportunity to stop and answer questions about
what we just covered and we could discuss w/classmates
about the rationale”
• “It gives you a good idea what you need to study more if you
have trouble, was a lot more enjoyable class (all instructors
should use)”
• “I stayed focused and looked forward to coming to class. It
helps break up the time and keep me thinking during lecture
because I’m anticipating a question”
• “NCLEX Style Questions”

40. Student Narratives
Most Helpful
• “It was an interactive way to review the material”
• “It made you pay attention”
• “It was helpful to be able to answer questions and participate
anonymously”
• “Seeing sample questions pertaining to the present topic and
the instructor did not know who you are in the class”
• “Helped me determine right away if I was understanding a
concept & give me the opportunity to ask questions & clear
things up right away”
• “Seeing that I was not the only student confused!
Anonymity!!”

41. Student Narratives
Least Helpful
• “I do not like when the question session (for one question)
takes an unnecessary amount of time. (for people to answer).
• “Nothing, this was an awesome lecture b/c of the clickers. I
feel I could have done better with the other material if the
clickers were used!!”
• “Question like “So far, does this topic clear?” If I read the book
before the class, I might have a couple of questions, but it
should be quite cleared”
• “It took up some time to get all the answers & discuss it”
• “Computer issues”
• “Having to go get it ”

42. Types of Questions

43. Types of Questions
• Misconception Questions

44. Your sister calls to say she’s having
twins. Which of the following is more
likely?
1. Twin Boys
2. Twin Girls
3. One boy and one
girl
4. All are equally likely
100%
Image: “IMG_9936e2,” Abby Bischoff, Flickr (CC) 1

45. Types of Questions
• Variable Relation Questions

52. Clicker Resources
• Turning Technologies
• Eclicker
• Poll Everywhere
• http://its.uiowa.edu/support/srs/post_conference.shtml
• http://www.wku.edu/teaching/booklets/clickers.html
• http://chronicle.com/blogs/techtherapy/2011/12/07/episode-90-growing-
pains-for-%E2%80%98clickers%E2%80%99/